Turkey welcomes cease-fire agreement for Ukraine

- "Our most sincere wish is the permanent solution of this conflict," Turkish Foreign Ministry says.

ANKARA (AA) -- Turkey has welcomed the cease-fire agreement for Ukraine that brings an uneasy calm in the volatile country.

"We are very pleased with the agreement that was reached after the negotiations of Russian, Ukrainian, French and German leaders," the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement late Thursday.

The statement referred to the recent talks in Minsk, Belarus, for a settlement of the conflict in the Donbass region of Ukraine, which included Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande, as well as participants of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said Turkey supported the measures outlined in the agreement and expected them to get implemented.

"Our most sincere wish is the permanent solution of this conflict which threatens not only the regional peace and stability, but also the credibility of the international system," the statement said.

Turkey will continue its support for long lasting solution and peace in Ukraine, it added.

More than 5,300 people have been killed and 12,200 others injured in eastern Ukraine since mid-April last year in the ongoing conflict, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.